Safety device for elevators



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

R. M. CURTISS. SAFETY DEVICE 12011J BLEVATORS.

No. 324,751. Patented ug. 18, 1885..

N. PETERS PhourLHIwgraphur. Withinon. REV

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

R. M. CURTISS. SAFETY DEVICE EOE ELEVATOES. No. 324,751'. Patented Aug.18, 1885.

Arrivi trier;o

ROBERT M. CURTISS, OF BROOKLYN, NEV YORK.

SAFEZIIY DVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

.- JFC'LTICN 'forming part of Letters Patent No. 324,751, dated August18, 1885,

Application tiled January Q2, 1881i. (Nomodel.)

To all whom may concern,.-

Be it known that I, ROBERT M. GURTIss, of

Brooklyn, Kings county, New York, have inf vented certain new andusef'ul Improvements in Safety Devices for Elevators, of which thefollowing is a specification.

It is Well known that numerous devices have been heretofore inventedwhich act to stop or @simply by passengers or freight becoming caughtand crushed between the moving car and the hatchway, for which no meansof prevention have been heretofore devised, and which are, in fact, morenumerous and fatal than the accidents of the first-described class, towhich invention has been chiefly directed heretofore.

New, my present improvement relates partially to safety devices of thefirst-described class, but more chiefly to safety devices for preventingthe latter class of accidents, which usually occur vthrough carelessattempts to get in or out of the car while the .nine is in motion, thevictim being usually caught between the doorway ofthe ear and thedoorway of the shaft, and crushed or decapitated, when the car isdescending, between the transom of the car-door and the threshold of theshaftdoor, or between the transe-uref the shaftdoor and the threshold ofthe'car when the car is ascending. In the ease of freight-elevators theplatform is sometimes overloaded or improperly loaded, Vso that thefreight projects and catches against one of the floors or Vhatchways,thus blocking the car and causing an undue strain. on the engine andhoistingcable, which latter becomes sometimes broken or detached andleaves the car liable to fall, with its load or passengers, and becomethereby wrecked.

My invention therefore aims chiefly to prevent `this class of accidents;and in order to accomplish this object a main feature of my inventionconsists in movable or yielding guard-rails, bars, transoms, or theirequivalents, arranged at or about the approaches or passages of theshaft and car, and operatively connected with the tripping mechanism ofthe safety-catches or with mechanism controlling the stopping of thehoisting machinery, or with both, so organized that iu case of acollision of anything with one of the said bars or guards vthe safetydevices Will be at once set oft', or

the hoisting-macl'linery stopped, or both, thereby at once stopping thecar in its guides before the colliding body can become crushed orinjured between the car and the shaft. Any suitable operativeconnections may be cmployed between the yielding guards and thesafety-catches or the stopping device of the hoisting machinery, and anysuitable form of safety-catches may be employed. I prefer, however, touse the electrical safety-catches shown in my former patents, Nos.216,024E and 266,107, in which the safety-catches are held out ofengagement by the attraction of an electro-magnet in a closed circuit,which passes through the hoisting-cable and other working parts of theapparatus, so that in case of the breaking of the circuit at any point,due to fracture of the cable or any other sustaining part of theapparatus, the magnet loses its attraction, and instantly releases thecatches, and sustains the ear. I also prefer to employ operativeconnections of an electrical character between the said yieldingguard-bars and the safety-catches and the stopping device, and also tohave said stopping device operate electrically. The said guard-bars Iprefer to form in fact as contact makers or breakers arranged in acircuit controlling the safetycatches and the stopping device, so thatin case any of said guard-bars are moved everso little by the collisionof any obstructing body therewith au electric circuit is made or broken,which instantly actuates suitable magnets or electric-motor devicescontrolling the safetycatchcs and the stopping device, so as to releasethe catches and stop the machinery, and thus bring the car to restbefore any damage can be done. Instead of employing a voltaic IOObattery to energize the electric circuit of the said safety devices,lpreferto employ secondary or storage batteries charged from a dynamodriven by the descending motion of the car, and I provide asystem ofautomatic switches, which act to switch one battery out of action whenexhausted and to switch the fresh battery into action while changing thechargingcireuit from one battery to the other. My in- `Io ventiontherefore also consists in the special features above outlined, as wellas in further details, as hereinafter fully set forth.

In the draw'ings annexed, Figure l presents an elevation of anelevating` apparat-ns equipped with my safety devices, and also showingthe circuit of the safety devices, the batteries, dynamo, switches,Ste., in diagram. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the shaft and car providedWith the safety-guards,and further illustrating this feature of. myinvention. Fig. 3 is a plan view of' the car and surrounding hatchway,showing the safety catches and guards. Fig. t is an enlarged perspectiveview of the car with its safety devices. Fig.

'25 5 is a detail view of one form of automatic 'stopping-valve for thehoisting machin ry. Fig. 6 is a detail of cut-off switch for thestorage-batteries. Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view showing a modified formof safety-catches for 3o the car. Fig. 8 shows a modification of theelectric safety mechanism.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, A indicates the car; B,the guides011 the shaft; @theI `hoisting-engine; and D, the cable, extending fromthe engine in the usual manner to the car. The guides B are providedwith lines of' teeth b, as usual, which, however, in my ca e are of theform of rack-teeth, and will catch positlveiy in'eithcr direction, asillus- 4o trated. rlhe car is provided either at top or bottom withsafety-catches, to engage in case of emergency with said teeth, asusual. In Figs. 1 and 3 these catches are shown arranged on the bottomof the car, and consist of two square-ended bolts, a a, adapted, whenreleased, to fit between the rack-teeth in the shaft, and thus hold thecar positively from leither ascending or descending. These bolts,asshown in Fig. 3, are connected by links to 5o opposite crank-pins on aratchet disk or wheel,

c, which when partially rotated will retract the bolts against thestress of springs shown, and thus withdraw their engaging ends from theracks on the guides and permit the car to When the ratchetwheel c isthus rotated into its retracting position,it is there engaged by a pawl,d, which is held in this engagement by the attraction of anelectro-magnet, c, against the stress of a 6o -retracting-spring, d.Now, this electro-magnet e is included in an electric circuit (shown bythe unfcathere-ii arrows in Fig. 1,)which, according to the principle ofmy former patents, passcs from a suitable battery to the fixed end ofthecable, thence through the cable to the car, through the contacts of thesafety-guards hereinafter to be described,

through the magnet c, and, finally, toa brush, if, on the bottom of thecar,which bears on a contact-strip, j", on one of the guides B, and fromsaid contact-strip through av return wire (shown) back to the oppositepole of the battery.

New, the safety guard devices before referred to are indicated by F F F2F3 F, &c., in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4t.

F indicates a transom or transom-bar on the car-door, which, instead ofbeing rigid, as heretofore, is made movable or yielding, with presseddown to aseat by a suitable spring or springs, g, and the seat or sealsof said transom itself forms a conductor or carries a conductor, whichis included in the safety-cirrated and the circuit broken, and thesafety catches and stops thereby released.

F F2 F indicate the transom or transombars on the doorways of the shaft,which are made yielding or movable, like those on the car, and alsoserve as contact-makers, their contacts being included in the samecircuit, as illustrated. The bar F is a simple conducting-bar, held downon its conductingseats by springs with the same effect as the transom onthe car. The transom Fi, have shown, however, as a wooden frame, helddown by its own weight on shoulders, but provided with a conducting-baracross its lower end, which fit-s between contact-springs included inthe circuit, as will be understood and the circuit brokcn,as before. Thebar F3 is shown as a fiexible metallic rod or wire fixed a't one end,and sliding at the other end through an insulating-sleeve within aconducting sleeve. A spring arranged between the end ofthe rod andinsulating-sleevetends constantly to keep the fiexiblc rod taut acrossthe doorway, and to keep a conieaimetal collar on said rod in contactwith the conducting-sleeve, so that the circuit which connects to thefixed end of' the rod and continues from the conducting-sleeve is thuskept closed; but should any object collide with the rod and bow thesame, as indicated Aby dotted lines, the contacts would be separated andthe ci rother instances described.

Now, F* in Figs. 3 and 4 indicatts the yielding guards,\vhich encirclethe top and bottom of' the car and form a marginal guard-frame aroundthe same, and are included in the circuit in a similar manner to thetransoms. These guards F are preferably flexible metallic rods or wires,the'irst rod being fixed at one end of the system to a corner-post, h,on the car, while the last rod slidesthrough a conducting-sleeve in thepost in the same way as the bar F iu Fig. 2, as alread y described.

an ample range of movement,lmt is constantly c from the drawings, sothat as soon as thetransom is raised the contacts will be separated.

cuit broken, with the same effect as in the som form an electricalcontact, and the trancuit, as illustrated in the drawings, so that ifany of said transoms are moved or raised at all off their seats thecontacts will. be sepa-l rlhe .bars are coupled together'. atthe threere maining corners of the car by elbowlevers,as shown, or may passaround pulleys atthe corners, as shown in Fig. 3, so that it' any oneofthebars is collided `with at any side of the car the said bar willbecome bowed, and thus pull upon the system, which will withdraw theterminal rod from y contact with the conducting-sleeve at thecorner-post lr, and thus break the electric circuit which passes throughsaid lrods and through the terminal contact thereof, aswell shown inFig. 4. This circuit need not, however, pass through the rodsthemselves, as illustrated in Fig. et, but only through the terminalcontact thereof in the post la, as will be readily understood. I alsoprefer to arrange a similar set of guards, F, around the opening of thehatchways under each lioor, as shown in Fig. 3, which are alsoincl-.udcdin the safety-circuit nl the same manner, -as will be readilycomprehended.

Now, in addition tothe aforesaid guards and catches, I arrange-in thepipe z', through which the motive-fluid liows to or from thehoistingengine C, a valve, 7c, preferably of the balanced kind, whichIarrange to' be normally held open by the attraction of a strongelectro-magnet, G, in the said safety-circuit, as illustrated in Fig. l,so that if the safety-circuit becomes broken at any point the saidmagnet will at once release its armature and allow the valve to drop,thus instantly shutting oft1 the How of the fluid, and thus stopping theengine and preventing any motion of the cable or car up or down. It willtherefore be now observed that by means of the safety devices shown notonly Will the safety-catches be released and the car held in ease thecable should'become strained or broken, but, further, in ease any personor object should become caught between the moving ear and the shaft,through carelessness or otherwise, then one of the saflty guards F F,Ste., will be moved bythe collision and the circuit instantly broken,thus demagnetizing the catch and stop magnets c G, and immediatelystopping the car in the guides, whether ascending or deseendingand atthe same time stopping the hoisting-machine, thereby accomplishing amost important result and preventing the most frequent and fatal classof accidents heretofore occurring.

It will be seen that in case the person is caught in the doorway of thecar when the car is descending he will collide with the transom F of thecar, and as soon as the least movement thereof is effected by saidcollision the circuit will be broken and the car and machinery broughtto rest, thus preventing any chalice of crushing or injuring the person.In case the car is ascending, then the person or obstruction willcollide with one of the transoms F', F2, or F'" on the shaft, and thiscollision will ell'ect theinstantaneous and automatic stoppage of thecar in the saine way. Furthermore, if any obstruction protrudcs from theshaft above the carwhile the jsame is ascending, or below the car whendescending, then a collision will occur with the guards F4 on the top orbottom ol' the car and instantly cause a stoppage of the car before anydamage can occur. Again, if any obstruction protrudes from the car whilethe same is ascendiugfor example, dis-arranged freight-then theobstruction will strike the guards F5, (see Fig. 3,) around the underside ol" the lirst hatchvay, and thus cause the car to stop before theobstruction is crushed or before any damage can be done to the car orhoisting apparatus by any excessive strain thereon. It will therefore beseen that by t-hese guards all the approaches or passages of the shaftand car are protected, so that it is almost impossible for any of theusual accidents to'ocenr, thus effecting a most important improvement insafety devices.

It will be understood that the safety bolts or catches a c may bea'l'lixcd on the top or bottom ofthe car, and hence in Figs. l and 3they are shown as al'lixed tothe bottom ofthe car, and in Fig. L,lV tothe top of the car. ln the latter ease the safety-bolts are in the formof a pawl-spring, which is raised up or bowed at the middle, so as toretract the bolts by the winding up of a cord on the windingdrum j.Around this drum is a brake-band connected with the armatare-lcver d,which is held down bythe attraction of the holdingmagnet c, so as tokeep said spring held up out of engagcmmt. As soon, however, as themagnet loses its attraction by the breaking ofthe circuit it willrelease 'the' armature-lever, relax the brake-band, free the drum andpermit the pawl-spring to straighten, and thus force the safety-boltsinto engagement, as will be readily comprehended. In the formerinstances the safety-catches are held out ot' engagement indirectly bythe attraction of the magnets e; but, if desired, the catches may beheld out of engagement by the directattraction of the magnet, as shownin Fig. 7, in which case the magnet c attracts a powerful spring bolt,oa, having a Vedging head on its outer end adapted to fit between thetails of two friction-dogs, a a, which approach the face of the guides,but are normally held out ol` contact by springs, so that as soon as thebolt is released by the weakening of the magnet it will diverge thedogs, and thus enlise them to forcibly grip the guides, both in thedirection of ascent and descent, so as to prevent the car from moving'either up or down. These logs will be preferably arranged to engage thetwo opposite sides of the guide-posts, instead of the inner face, asshown in Fig. 7. y

Instead ot using the form ol' stepvalve shown in Fig. 1, the modiliedform .shown in Fig. 5 maybe employed. ln this case the valve 7tis of thesingle poppet form, and its stem is connected with a cam-lever, asshown, and a spring is arranged, constantly tend to close the net Gis'arranged to attract val ve. the cam-lever and as illustrated, to

The mag- IIO hold it inl its raised position, and thus keep the valveopen against the stress of the spring. As soon, however, as the magnetloses its attraction the cam-lever will be released, and the valve willbecome instantly closed by its spring, thus stopping the engine, asbefore described. This modification has the advantage that a weakermagnet will serve to' operate the valve, owing to the mechanicaladvantage of the cam-lever. I do not, however, limit myself to eitherspecial form of valve, as any equivalent construction may be employedwithout departing from the principle of my safety stopping device.

In the electrical mechanism shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 it will benoted that the electro-magnets are constantly energized by being in aclosed circuit, and that the movementof the trigger bars or guards aci sto break this circuit and to demagnetize the magnets. This may bereversed, however, and an open circuit used with the trigger-bars ortransoms arranged to make contact and close the circuit to energize themagnets, as shown in Fig. 8. In this case the holding-magnet c is apolarized magnet, the permanent magnetism of which tends normally tohold the armature and brake-lever d with the same effect as in Fig. 4.The coils of this magnet, however, are connected withthe poles of abattery whose circuit is normally open. If, however, the transom F orits equivalent is moved, it will make au electric contact, as shown bydotted lines, and close the said circuit, and thereby send a currentthrough the coils of the polarized magnet, which will weaken orneutralize the permanent magnetism, and thus release the lever d.

It will be readily understood that instead of the circuit being conveyedto the car through the hoistingeablc it may be conducted through aseparate cable, or 'through a pendent loop of wire, or throughconductors on the guides and brushes on the car, or in any othersuitable way.

lt will be noted, by referring to Figs. 1 and 4, thatI provide the carwith a cut-oli' switch, M, arranged in and controlling thesafety-circuit anfl disposed in some part of the car, preferably on theinside, convenientto the hand of the operator, so that in case of anyemergency, or in case the operator foresees some possible accident, hecan at once open the switch and thus break the circuit and cause the carand engine to be brought to rest before any damage can occur, which onsome occasions may prove to be a very important provision, and forms onefeature of my improvement.

As before stated, a voltaic battery may be employed to energize thesafety-circuit; but I prefer to use a dynamo-electric machine andstorage-batteries, as fully illustrated in Fig.

to which reference may now be made. In this view L indicates thedynamo-machine, and N indicates a spindle at the bottom of the shaft, onwhich is mounted a pulley, N over which an endless rope, 0, passes,which eX.-

tcnds up through the shaft and passes over av pulley at the top thereof,andis connected with the car, as shown, so that as the car moves up ordown it moves said rope and revolves the pulley N. The pulley N is,however, connected by ratchet and pawl with the shaft N,

so that it will revolve said shaft only when the car is descending, andon this shaft is mounted a driving-wheel, from which a belt passes tothe pulley of the dynamo; hence, by this arrangement, when the cardescends the dynamo is driven, and when the car ascends the dynamoremains at rest, thus taking off resistance from the car when it israising its load and utilizing the load which descends to drive thedynamo.

Now, l? P indicate the storage-batteries, one

of which is always in circuit with the safety-v circuit orworking-circuit, which is indicated by unfeathered arrows, while theother battery is in connection with the charging-circuit from thedynamo, which is indicated by feathered arrows. An automatic switch orseries ol' switches is employed, which will act to switch the usingbattery when nearly exhausted out of the Working-circuit and switch thefreshly charged battery into the same, while changing thecharging-circuit from the fresh to the exhausted battery. This switchmechanism consists of a series of contacts or switches, R, and a pair ofmagnets, S S', arranged,respeetively,in the charging and workingcircuits, and acting on an armature, T, which plays between them and isoperatively connected with the switches. The switch or switches Rconsist of tive switch arms or levers, 1 2 3 4 5, all coupled with aconnectingrod, 6, which is connected with the lever of the armature T.Each of these switchlarms l 2 3 4 5 moves between a pair ofcontacttongues, the first pair of which, 7 8, are preferably rigid andmore widely separated, andwhich pair, with the arm l, may be called themain contacts, and govern the circuit of the dynamo alone, while thefour other contact-tongues are elastic or yielding springtongues, andwith their respective arms 2 3 4 5 form the minor switches, which governthe connection of the two batteries, respectively, with the dynamo andthe working-circuit. Now, when the apparatus is at rest with the magnetsS S demagnetized, the equalizing springs l2 13 of the armature-lever Twill hold the armature midway and balanced between the two magnets, andin this position the switch-arms l 2 3 4 5 will also be in a mid orbalanced position between their contacttongues. The first arm, l,however, of the main or dynamo switch will, on account of its morewidelyseparated and rigid contactpoints, be out of circuit with bothcontacts, and hence the circuit of the dynamo or charging-circuit willbe opened. The lremaining four switch-arms, 2 3 4 5, will, how-v IOO IIO

that the battery P -cuit is closed thereon, say, by closing the springy,and in the said position ol" the switch.- arms both press up toward eachother and embrace the switclrarms; hence assuming, now, is charged andthat the eirswitch M in the car, this will of course close the entiresafety or working circuit, and the magnet S will become energized andattract the balanced armature T toward it in the position shown in Fig.1, t-hgrehyswaying the switch-arms l 2 3 4 5 to one side and making orkeeping contact with the tongues toward which they incline whilebreaking contact with the opposite tongues, as illustrated. Thisposition of the switch-arms, as may now be seen by tracing theconnections' and arrows in Fig. l, will close the charging-circuitwiththe dynamo and the exhausted battery P, and at the same time cut theexhausted battery olf from the working-circuit, while keeping thecharged battery P in said circuit, as may be readily seen by followingthe arrows. It will now be seen that the magnet S 'ill be energized bythe chargingcireuit and tend to pull the armature T away from the magnetS, but will notyet be able to do so on accou nt of the strong attractionofthe magnet S, (being in the fresh battery-encina) and by reason ofthegreater distance of the armature from the magnet S. As soon, however, asthe magnet S weakens suiiclently by the gradual weakening of the batteryP, so as to cause the retraetile tendency of the armature T (due to,,its springs and the magnet S') to preponderate, then the armaturewill be attracted toward the magnet S', and this will shift theswitch-arms l 2 3 4 5 to theiropposite inclinations and into contactwith the opposite tongues, thus reversingl the connections and throwingthe battery P and its magnet Soff the working-circuit and into thecharging-circuit, while putti ng the batteryP and its magnet S into theworking circuit, as will be readily understood by tracing theconnections. NVhen, again, the working-battery is sufficientlyweakenetha reversal ofthe connections will take place, as before,bringing the parts back to the position illustrated in Fig. l., hence bythese contrivauces the usually-wasted power` of the descending car isutilized to furnish electricity to charge V the safetycircuit7 and bythe automaticswitch :mechanism described one battery is always beingcharged while the otheris being used without requiring attention.

. `The batteriesP P are presumed to be inclosed air-tight, and areconnected with a diaphragm chamber, 15, over whifch'is fixed adiaphragm, 16, upon which rests a contactmaking lever, 14, as shown indetail in Fig. 6, which lever in its normal position closes a contactthrough which the chargingcurrent of the dynamo is conveyed, as shown inFig. l. Vhen, therefore, the battery is fully charged, any additional orexcessivecurrent will produce a generation of gas, which will prrss uponand distend the diaphragm and thus sway the lever 14 and break the':hargiiig-circuit,

thus opening` the circuit on lhe dynamo and preventing any furthercharging of the battery, and thereby ibrming a simple ent-oil'l devicefor the described purpose.

ln the working-circuit l. prefer to introduce 'suitable resistance, asshown at l? in Fig. il.,

to prevent the battery from being exhausted too rapidly, and I also showa galvanometer, 1S, to indicate the strength of current.

Whenever the circuit becomes broken by the action of the safety devices,as already described, l prefer to have an alarm automalically sounded inthe engine-roon1 to call the attention ofthe engineer thereto, whichalarm is shown in Fig. Ll-that is, li) indicates an electromagnet in theworking-circuit, which normally holds its armature 20 retracted, andtherefore keeps a shunt-circuit, 2l` open at the retracting eoutactstop22, and in this shunt is an electrical bell, 23. As soon, there fore, asthe safetycircuit is broken the magnet 19 loses its power and itsarmature retracts and closes the shunt 2l, thus ringing the bell 23.Vhen the contact 22 is closed, it will be seen that a direct circuitwill be' made with the battery and switches, excluding the safetydevices of the elevator, and hence the bell will continue to ring untilthe circuit is changed.

Instead of having the marginal guards F" around the top and bottom ofthecar, a false77 bottom or top may be used in the form of a continuousplatform of the same size as the top or bottom of the car, arranged toyield by collision with any object and break the circuit insubstantially the same way as the movable transoms already described.

In the arrangen'ient shown in Fig. S, instead of using a permanentpolarized magnet, a simple electromagnetmay be used, arranged when thecircuit is closed at the transom F to attract an armature and therebyrelease the safety devices. l

ln the alarm shown in Fig. '1, instead of having the armature 20 toclose a shunt inv the Working-circuit on the bell 23, it may act toclose a separate battery-circuit to ring the said bell.

.l am aware tlmtit is not new lo provide an elevator-ear with a disk orother similar device which is caused tommove by the air if the car isdescending too rapidly, which movement of said disk breaks or makes anelectric circuit, and make no claim to this; but, so far as l am aware,it has liever, previous to my invention, been proposed to place a guardnear one or more of the lateral edges of a ear, so that any solidobstructiou-such as a persons body or any part thereof-coming in Contactwith-such guard would open or close electrical cireuitand thus operate asafely mechanism or stop the movement. of l-he hoist-A ing apparatus.

I am also aware that it has been proposed to connect the doors of anelevator with a magnetic clutch in such a manner that the openingol'tlu` doors caused the clutch lohold the startingrope fast, sothntl-lie engine could IIO Iig

tion, with mechanism for stopping the car, of

a movable or yielding transom or transoms lon the door or doors ofapproach to the car, and electrical connections between said transomsand stopping mechanism, whereby a collision with or movement of saidtransoms acts to automatically stop the car, substantially as herein setforth.

2. The eombinatioinin an elevatingapparatus, with mechanism for stoppingthe car, of a movable or yielding guard near one ofthe lateral edgesofthe top of the car,and electrical connections, substantially asdescribed, between said guard and stopping mechanism, whereby thecollision of any obstruction with the top ofthe car on its ascent movessaid guard and thereby releases the stopping mechanism and stops theear.

3. The combination, in an elevating apparatus, with mechanism forstopping the ear, of a movable or yielding guard near one of thela-teral edges ofthe bottom of the car, and electrieal'conneetionsbetween said guard and said stopping mechanism, substantially as hereinset forth, whereby the collision of the bottom of the car with anyobstruction in its path will move said guard and thereby release thestopping mechanism and stop the car.

4. The combination, with an elevating apparatus with mechanism forstopping the movenient of the car, of an electric motor device or magnetcontrolling the action or release of said mechanism, and of a movable oryielding guard or bar guarding the approach to the car andv serving as acontact-maker controlling the electric circuit of said motor device,whereby a collision with and movementof said bar will open or close thecircuit, and thereby aetuate the motor device, release the stoppingdevice, and stop the car, substantially as herein set forth.

5. The combination, with a hoisting-engine,

. ot' a valve for stopping the movement thereof,

and an electro-magnet constructed and arranged to operate said valve,wiih an electric circuit energizing said magnet, and means,substantially as described, for breaking and closing said' circuit atthe will of the operator, Substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

6. The combina-tion, with a hoisting-engine and a valve controlling theiiow ot' motive iiuid to or from the same and an electro-magnetcontrolling the action of said valve, of an electric circuit energizingsaid magnet, and means, substantially as described, for breaking orclosing said eircuitin case of coming in contact with a solidobstruction, whereby y the action of the magnet shuts the said valve andstops the engine, substantially as setforth.

7. The combination, with an elevating apparatus and mechanism forstopping the movement ci' the car, of electric motor devices cor.-

trolling said mechanism, and an electric circuit energizing saidmechanism and extended to the car, with a circuit-breaking switch insaid circuit on the car, whereby the car may be stopped by moving saidswitch, substantially as set forth. v

8. The combination, in an elevating apparatus, with a safety electriccircuit traversing the same, and with mechanism for stopping themovement of the car, of an electric magnet or electric motor device insaid circuit arranged to control said stopping mechanism, astoragebattery for energizing said circuit, and a dynamo-electricgenerator' l'or charging said battery driven by the movement of the ear,substantially as herein set forth.

9. The combination, with an elevating apparatus, of an electric circuit,energizing-motor devices arranged to effect the stopping of the car uponthe breaking of said circuit, with a dynaijno-electrie generator drivenby the movement of the car, and two storage-batteries, one of which isin circuit with the generator and the other with the safety-eircuit,vwith means for changing the respect-ive circuits with the respectivebatteries, substantially as herein set forth.

10. The combination, with an elevating apparatus, of an electricsafety-circuit, energizing electric-motor devices arranged to effect thestoppage of the car upon the breaking ot said circuit, with adynamo-electric generator and two storagebatteries, one of which isconnected to the generator or charging-circuit, and with switchmechanism arranged to reverse the said ci reuits in relation with thesaid batteries, and with the magnets S S', arranged, respectively, inthe charging and working circuits, and the armature T, playing betweensaid magnets and connected with thev said switch, substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

1l. In combination with an elevating apparatus, the safety electricalcircuit-energizing motor devices arranged to effect the stopping of thecar on the breakingof said circuit, with an electric alarm normally outot' circuit, and means, substantially such as described, whereby thebreaking of the safety-circuit closes the alarm-circuit and causes thesame to sound when the safety-circuit is broken, substantially' asherein set forth.

ROBERT lli. CURTISS.

\Vi t i esses:

JN0. E. GAvrN, (tiras. M. l-lrfuuss.

ICO

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